Barefoot In The Rain
by EternityEchoes
Summary: Matt's birthday again, and the most he can bring himself to expect is another black eye or bloodied lip from the man he loves most. MattxMello.


**Barefoot In The Rain**

**by: EternityEchoes**

**A/N: Happy Birthday, Matt! This was written for everyone's favorite redheaded gamer's birthday, Feburary 1st. Co-written with my little sister, as all my stories are ^^**

"Matt, I'm worried about you." the blonde mafia leader told his best friend, who was currently hunched over a game as per usual, and merely grunted in response. "Matt." he repeated, placing his leather-gloved hand underneath the redhead's chin and forcing him to look up.

"Mello, cut it out!" said redhead hissed, smacking Mello's hand away and going back to the game.

Which was, a few seconds later, ripped out of his hand and crushed into a million tiny pieced underneath a certain chocoholic's black combat boot.

"What the _fuck_ do you think you're doing?" the gamer yelled, his temper flaring up as immediatly jumped to his feet, nose-to-nose with Mello. "That was my new fucking DS and you just smashed it into a million fucking pieces! Do you know how much those goddamn things cost? You owe me a new one!" he raged, shoving Mello's chest with his last word.

Mello shoved back, slamming Matt into a wall by the neck, his face getting the worst of it as it slammed into the concrete. Matt took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down and not overreact again, waiting for the moment when Mello's death grip on him released and he could turn back around, giving his friend the illusion that he was calm.

"Are you ready to listen to me now?" Mello asked, his deep voice annoyed as he snapped off the corner of a chocolate bar and shoved it in his mouth, and Matt nodded. "You've been spending all your fucking time playing that stupid _thing_," he inclined his head towards the remains of Matt's DS. "And I don't think you've even seen the sun in over a month."

Matt stalked over to a window, peered outside, and lay down on a couch. "There. I saw the damn sun. Happy now?" he hissed, and Mello rolled his eyes. "C'mon. Get dressed." he commanded, and Matt lazily got up and pulled a pair of jeans over his black boxers and a red-and-black striped shirt over his bare chest. "Shoes too." Mello added when the gamer sat back down, and he reluctantly pulled on his thick black combat boots, then pulled his goggles down over his eyes.

"Now what?"

The blonde grabbed his friend's elbow, steering him outside towards the sleek black motorcycle that Mello always preferred to drive. Matt attempted to pull towards his red Camero, but the chocoholic was stronger and threw the gamer down on the back of the motorcycle. "I'd suggest you hold on," Mello lightly said, straddling the bike, and Matt reluctantly wrapped his arms around Mello's leather-clad waist.

"Where are we going?" Matt called out to Mello once they picked up speed, the harsh wind whisking his voice away so that Mello just continued, revving the bike as they sped up a hill. Matt sighed and put his face closer to the blonde's and nuzzling his neck.

"Hey. I was saying--" he continued, gently nibbling Mello's earlobe.

"What the fuck do you think you're _doing_?"

The motorcycle screamed to a stop, flinging Matt off and onto the asphalt.

"I..." the redhead fought back tears as the skin of his shoulder was torn open and blood soaked his striped shirt. "Mello," he groaned, sitting up and examining the damage, gingerly pressing his long fingers to the scraped shoulder.

The blonde scrutinized the damage, still from the motorcycle. "What the hell was that?" he hissed, glaring down at Matt, who cast his eyes down. "Mello, I...I'm sorry." he choked, his goggles falling off his eyes and down around his neck. "I don't know what I was doing." he added, and Mello nodded once, looking fowards again.

"Get back on." he commanded, and Matt painfully obeyed, being careful not to jostle his shoulder as he hesitantly wrapped his arms once again around the violent teen's waist. Mello immediatly took off, going full-speed on the motorcycle as fast as possible. Matt buried his head in Mello's shoulder, fully aware of the consequences but doing so anyway, because the cold, biting wind hitting his raw shoulder was almost unbearable.

The redhead gritted his teeth against the pain, biting through his lower lip and causing coppery blood to gush into his mouth. Matt almost choked as the metallic tang rushed down his throat, being forced to swallow his own blood. He wouldn't risk spitting it out onto Mello; which would probably result in worse than earlier. _And earlier was plenty bad itsself, _he though, the burning in his shoulder still awful.

Mello pulled into a park, the tires screeching against the sidewalk. "Get off,'' he snarled, stalking into a tall building. Matt obeyed, carefully standing up and walking over to a wrought-iron bench, the back of it a mass of entwined flowers and leaves.

He leaned against it carefully, making sure that his injured shoulder didn't touch anything. Goddamn it, what was _wrong _with him? Though his shoulder hurt like hell, his stomach was all fluttery and light.

A warm, tingly feeling spread throughout his body as Mello glanced up at him through sexy eyelashes, gesturing for him to come for a walk from over near the large building that he had just come back out of.

Matt nervously obeyed, following his friend along a cobblestoned path, leading between weeping willows, their long, slender branches leaning down to kiss the vibrant green grass as the wind gently swayed them. The sky was a dark, ominous grey, promising rain, and yet Mello still walked on.

He finally stopped once they were far away from everyone, near a small stream that bubbled over the smooth rocks beneath it. Without saying a word to Matt, the blonde pulled off his own chunky black combat boots, carelessly tossing them onto the lush emerald grass. Still wordlessly, he rolled up his leather pants to his knees, and began wading in the water.

Matt almost smiled. Wading had been something Mello had done almost constantly back at Wammy's, though the large creek back at the orphanage was forbidden to the students. But Mello had never let that stop him. Matt did the same, unlacing his ratty black high-top converse and following his tempermental best friend into the icy water.

The gamer gasped as the freezing water rushed over his feet. He had never been much of an outdoorsy person.

Mello kept walking against the current, heading for a large, flat rock sticking up a little bit above the water. He sat down on it, dangling his feet--tiny, delicate feet, though Matt never dared tell Mello--in the water, and swirling them around to make ripples distort his beautiful reflection.

The redhead alighted beside him, perching carefully on the smooth surface and trying not to jostle his still-bloody shoulder.

"Sorry." Mello apologized harshly, staring down at the water. Matt stared down also. "S'okay. My fault." he mumbled, and Mello shook his head, his shaggy blonde hair falling across the scarr that marred the left side of his face.

"No, it's not. I overreacted." he murmured, gazing down at Matt's reflection.

"I shouldn't have acted like that. It was....wrong," the redhead managed, though every cell in his body screamed in denial, wanting more. The first drops of rain broke free from the clouds, landing on Matt's cheeks like tears.

Mello gritted his teeth, unsure what to do. Part of him wanted to punch Matt in the jaw, while a smaller part very much wanted something different. That little bit so desired to hold on to his best friend, hug him and comfort him, gently wash away the crimson blood staining Matt's shoulder.

But the part that confused him the most was the area around his lips, which he longed to press against Matt's, to hold him tight and never let go. And that was what scared him.

Mello had always bottled up his true emotions inside, everything except anger hiding deep inside him. Until now. As the rain fell harder, Matt glanced up to see Mello staring at him. "What?" he asked, suddenly self-concious, and Mello cast his eyes down.

"Nothing," he whispered, watching the raindrops fall into the water, ripples emerging from where they hit. His hair was now drenched, the blonde rain-darkened to a deep golden. Matt's hairwas the same, the wet locks falling down over his goggles and trickling water down his face.

Matt timidly reached out and placed his hand on top of Mello's, fully expecting to get punched in the face or a gun shoved to his head. But instead, Mello just sat there.

"It's my birthday, you know." Matt said quietly, slowly twining his fingers between Mello's, who finally looked up, into the redhead's brilliant emerald eyes.

Wet trails ran down the blonde's cheeks, and Matt couldn't tell if it was tears or just the rain.

"I'm sorry," Mello repeated again, lifting his hand and gently examining the scraped skin on Matt's shoulder.

He flinched when Mello's fingers touched his raw skin, gritting his teeth so as not to let out any sounds of pain, which Mello would take as a sign of weakness. The delicate touch retreated, and Matt breathed a sigh of relief. They sat there in silence for a while longer, the only sound being the raindrops hitting the surface of the creek.

"I know." Mello replied, and Matt's eyes widened in surprise. Mello remembered his birthday? He never paid attention to Matt.

The redhead looked up, startled by the sapphire eyes, so close to his own. "Mello...?" he breathed, a question in his voice, with a faint trace of fear. Matt flinched, but steeled his nerves and held still as the blonde came closer.

"Of course I remember it. I _always _do." Mello smiled slightly, his breath caressing Matt's face. The blonde paused, his lips just shy of the gamer's.

Matt took a deep breath, trying not to look disappointed as Mello pulled back. But the blonde grinned, dragging his best friend behind him as he jumped out of the stream and onto the wet grass. He turned his face up to the sky, letting raindrops fall in his mouth. Matt's mouth was open in surprise; he'd never seen Mello act so happy and carefree, and he ran out to join him, laughing.

Mello caught the redhead, placing his hand on Matt's chin and lifting his head. He leaned down and let their lips meet, the raindrops on Mello's mouth wet against his Matt's. He drew back a moment, letting his new boyfriend gaze at him in surprise. Before kissing him again, he whispered, "Happy birthday, Matt."

**Review? Thanks!**


End file.
